COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD EXAMINES THE REPORT OF MEXICO
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today concluded its consideration of the combined fourth and fifth periodic report of Mexico on its implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Juan Manuel Gomez Robledo, Secretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, noted the new legal developments in the country, and the cooperation with international human rights mechanisms which had recently led to an agreement on Consular Protection Services for migrant children.
Introducing the report of Mexico, Laura Vargas, Director of the National System of the Comprehensive Development of the Family, said that the General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents, adopted in December 2014, represented the most important legislative progress in the area of childhood in the past 25 years. It opened a new stage in the protection of children in the country as it gave special attention to vulnerable groups and saw children as right holders. It was vital to improve the situation of particularly vulnerable children and adolescents, including migrant children, disabled children and children living in poverty, and to eliminate all forms of violence and exploitation of children and strengthen their access to justice.
Ruben Moreira Valdez, Governor of the State of Coahuila and Coordinator of the Human Rights Commission at the National Conference of Governors, noted the specific role that the National Conference was playing in the implementation of the General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents throughout the country, and in particular in ensuring that each federal unit passed a comprehensive law to this effect.
Committee Experts noted that the federal character of Mexico posed a specific challenge in ensuring that all the children in the country enjoyed the same level of rights and protection. They congratulated Mexico on the adoption of the excellent General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents and stressed the need to capitalize on the overwhelming support for this law and the willingness at all levels to implement it. The Anti-Discrimination Act was an excellent piece of legislation, but indigenous, rural, and disabled children, particularly girls, still suffered discrimination, including its multiple forms. Torture was reported to be a systematic practice throughout the country, used by security forces, in some schools and in places of juvenile detention, and yet there was no harmonized law which prohibited the practice in line with international human rights standards. Around 2.5 million children under the age of 16 were working, often in the worst forms of child labour and in hazardous work such as domestic and farm work. Experts inquired about measures to prevent high levels of domestic and gender-based violence, including sexual violence, which affected many children and adolescents, and to ensure prosecution and convictions for perpetrators.
In concluding remarks, Sara De Jesús Oviedo Fierro, Committee Vice-Chairperson and Country Rapporteur, said that violence, poverty and the poor distribution of wealth underpinned the problems and expressed hopes that Mexico would address those root causes and avoid the vicious cycle and the repetition of the problem.
Mr. Gomez Robledo, in his closing remarks, thanked the Committee Experts for their comments and constructive criticism which would allow Mexico to move forward and ensure the real implementation of the Convention and its Optional Protocols. The General Law was a watershed in this area and all efforts from now on would be focused on its practical implementation and the changing of the reality on the ground.
The delegation of Mexico included representatives of the Secretariat for Foreign Affairs, National System of the Comprehensive Development of the Family, National Conference of Governors, Secretariat of Interior, National Migration Institute, the Senate, Secretariat of Education, Secretariat of Social Development, Secretariat of Health, Office of the Attorney General, Government of the State of Coahuila, Congress of the State of Coahuila, National Commission of Superior Courts of Justice, Federal District Judiciary, Executive Commission for Assistance to Victims, and the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The next public meeting of the Committee will be at 3 p.m., when it is scheduled to start the examination of the combined third to fifth periodic report of Ghana (CRC/C/GHA/3-5) under the Convention in Chamber A.
In Chamber B, the Committee will consider the combined fourth and fifth periodic report of Honduras under the Convention (CRC/C/HND/4-5), as well as its initial report under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/HND/1), and the initial report under the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/HND/1).
Report
The combined fourth and fifth periodic report of Mexico under the Convention on the Rights of the Child can be read via the following link: CRC/C/MEX/4-5.
Presentation of the Report
JUAN MANUEL GOMEZ ROBLEDO, Secretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, said that the commitment of Mexico to the full respect of the provisions of the Convention was evidenced by the new legal developments and the constructive cooperation with this Committee and other international human rights mechanisms. Cooperation with the United Nations Children Fund had led to the signing of an agreement granting consular protection services to migrant children.
LAURA VARGAS, Director of the National System of the Comprehensive Development of the Family, introducing the report of Mexico, said that a third of the population in the country, or more than 40 million, were children and adolescents; of those 12.5 per cent were indigenous children and 1.7 per cent of the population under the age of 17 lived with disability. Mexico had increased the minimum age for work from 14 to 15 and had reduced by 500,000 the number of children in the condition of child labour, thus creating the conditions for the adoption of International Labour Organization Convention 138. The General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents, adopted in December 2014, represented the most important legislative progress in the area of childhood in the past 25 years; its 154 articles protected and promoted 18 specific rights and gave special attention to vulnerable groups and saw children as right holders. The law had set up the Federal Office for the Protection of Boys, Girls and Adolescents, which would articulate the work of the 32 offices which existed in the federal units, and guaranteed the participation of children in the design and implementation of public policies which affected their rights. The General Law had opened a new stage in the protection of children in the country and was a significant step forward.
Other initiatives included the national campaign for timely birth registration, the national strategy to combat bullying, and the strategy to prevent teenage pregnancies. PROSPERA was the programme combatting hunger and malnutrition in deprived areas, and progress had been achieved in reducing infant and child mortality: between 1990 and 2014, mortality rates of children under the age of five had been reduced by 62 per cent. It was vital to improve the situation of particularly vulnerable children and adolescents, including migrant children, disabled children and children living in poverty. Further, it was imperative to eliminate all forms of violence and exploitation of children and to strengthen their access to justice.
RUBEN MOREIRA VALDEZ, Governor of the State of Coahuila and the Coordinator of the Human Rights Commission at the National Conference of Governors, said that Mexico was a Federal State in which municipalities with their own governments were the basis for the organization of the country, and this presented specific challenges to the Mexican State in complying with its international obligations. The Federal State had strengthened the coordination of efforts on human rights and in particular children’s rights, and the National Conference of Governors, particularly its Human Rights Commission, was the Federal State’s mechanism to address compliance with international human rights obligations. The National Conference of Governors had held a number of meetings to ensure that the General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents would be implemented. It obliged States to pass comprehensive laws with a crosscutting human rights perspective to ensure the protection of children in all of Mexico as well as the creation of the State’s systems of protection and promotion of public policies.
Questions by the Committee Experts
JORGE CARDONA LLORENS, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur, noted that the federal character of Mexico with units which enjoyed a great deal of autonomy created a difficulty in ensuring that all the children in the country enjoyed the same level of rights and protection. Mr. Cardona congratulated Mexico for the adoption of the excellent General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents and raised concern about its implementation at the levels of states and municipalities. What would be done about the states which did not pass the required laws and what resources were foreseen for its implementation, both at federal and state levels? The Country Rapporteur further noted the absence of policies to punish state officials for corruption and wondered what measures were being taken to address corruption. The Anti-Discrimination Act was an excellent piece of legislation, however, indigenous, rural, and disabled children, particularly girls, still suffered discrimination, including multiple forms of discrimination. What concrete actions were being taken to address discrimination against children, including femicide which represented a pinnacle of gender-based discrimination? It was true that child mortality had been reduced, but Mexico still maintained one of the worst records in the world for death of children in road accidents. Mr. Cardona commended Mexico for its 2011 Constitutional reform and asked about the concrete measures taken to address civil rights and basic freedoms in rural areas, to address de facto discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children, and to eradicate harmful traditional practices such as early marriages.
SARA DE JESÚS OVIEDO FIERRO, Committee Vice-Chairperson and Country Rapporteur, commended the excellent General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents and said that Mexico needed to capitalize on the overwhelming support for this law and the willingness at all levels to implement it. Ms. Oviedo stressed the importance of the implementation of this law, and asked the delegation about the coordination system in place at state and municipal levels, when the programme for the national comprehensive care system would be ready, and how civil society was involved in those efforts. The move away from a social welfare based approach to a rights-based approach was a challenge for many countries, and a robust training approach was needed to enable institutions for the move towards a human rights based approach. How was Mexico addressing this and also what steps were being put in place to facilitate civil society involvement?
MARIA RITA PARSI, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur, took up the issue of torture which was reported to be a systematic practice throughout the country used by security forces, and also in some schools. What measures were in place to harmonize federal and state laws on the prohibition of torture and cruel and degrading treatment to ensure that they were in compliance with international human rights law and that all such practices were investigated and prosecuted? What measures were being taken to prohibit and sanction acts of torture in detention centres against juveniles in conflict with the law? How was Mexico addressing the issue of corporal punishment and what measures was it taking to promote positive and non-violent education, and to prevent high levels of domestic violence and gender violence which affected many children and adolescents? Were help lines accessible to children throughout the country for reporting acts of violence and corporal punishment to the authorities?
Another Committee Expert commended the creation of the Human Rights Commission and asked the delegation about what was being done to ensure its compliance with the Paris Principles, and whether additional information could be provided concerning complaints this Commission received from children, and whether the complaint mechanism would be made more available to vulnerable children, including street and migrant children? Mexico had made great progress in harmonising its definition of the child with the provisions of the Convention and the Expert asked about the minimum age requirements for marriage, medical consent and consent for adoption.
Sexual violence was an issue of concern, including the low rate of convictions, and Experts wondered about the setting up of the statistical mechanism and the mechanism of assistance and support to children victims of violence.
Replies by the Delegation
Mexico was currently considering its accession to the Third Optional Protocol and the decision had not been made yet. The 2011 Constitutional Reform put international treaties at the same levels as the Constitution, so any accession to a new treaty involved a far greater number of actors than before. There was a debate in the Congress whether the legislation needed to be harmonized prior to accession or after.
The Consular Protection Protocol had just been acceded to with the support of the United Nations Children Fund and it enjoyed an annual budget of $ 17 million. It was to be noted that Mexico had a large number of consulates in the United States, Canada and Latin America. The consular protection work was of high quality and demonstrated high levels of care.
It was possible that not all the states exactly followed federal laws and it was very difficult to ensure uniform legislation throughout the country. The Conference of Governors and the Federal Government were the driving force behind the implementation of the General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents, which also enjoyed the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund. There was an initiative to raise the age of marriage to 18 throughout the country. There was a great deal of legislation at local levels which criminalized corporal punishment and put it on the same footing as domestic violence; corporal punishment in schools was criminalized in all States.
A regulation was being drawn up for the implementation of the General Law which would include the establishment of an Executive Secretariat which would be the driving force behind the system. The regulation would also include the participation of civil society, and would set up the national system of information on the situation of the rights of children, to inform policy making.
Mexico attached great importance to addressing torture and aimed to have in place a law which would prevent and address all forms of violence, and in all settings. The prevention policy addressing organized crime was in place, and a survey had been conducted which analyzed violence affecting children, which informed policy makers. The Senate had approved a ruling in April 2015 to enable the Congress to expedite a general law establishing sanctions for acts of torture or cruel and degrading treatment.
Human rights had to be the right motive underpinning public policies and all those in Mexico must enjoy the right to education. Human rights were present in the curricula, including for state officials, and schools were made free from violence. That was where the paradigm shift towards human rights started. The Children’s Parliament was in place, which also participated in the Congress.
In a series of follow up questions, Committee Experts asked for detailed information about the distribution of resources allocated for the implementation of the Consular Protection Protocol, the revision of the law on rape, and the concrete information concerning prevention of torture in places of detention.
Some 24,000 persons died in traffic accidents every year; road accidents were the leading cause of death for young people, and were mainly due to alcohol and speed. Health law had been modified to completely prohibit the use of alcohol by minors, and educational courses would be provided to children and youth on harmful effects of alcohol on health. Child mortality was being steadily reduced over the years as a result of efforts to address leading causes of infant and child death: neonatal resuscitation, diarrhoea, preventable diseases, hygiene practices and vitamin supplements.
The National Crusade against Hunger was being implemented in more than 1,200 municipalities, the majority of which were indigenous communities, while the PROSPERA programme was reaching out to a great number of families, including indigenous. As a result, many indigenous children were able to continue schooling and not drop out. The best interest of the child was a public policy which was set out in the law and the Constitution, and was defined as in article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The best interest of the child was determined based on the protocol drawn up by the supreme justice. Torture and acceptance or exclusion of evidence was not correctly defined in the legislation, but a lot of progress had been made; a law would soon coordinate the legislation that existed in different states.
The Federal Office for Defending Children’s Rights would transform into local units for protection and would provide legal protection to children; they would also have specific competencies as defined by the General Law.
Questions by the Committee Experts
MARIA RITA PARSI, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur, asked about the situations in which families were separated, for example due to prison sentences, and commended the efforts to protect children without parental care, but noted the lack of a uniform system of protection from one state to another. What monitoring systems were in place for public and private institutions of care of children, and what was the situation of children without parental care? Mexico was a country of origin, destination and transit of children migrants, said Ms. Parsi, noting that much had been done since 2011 to strengthen the protection of children migrating from or through Mexico. What was the current state of play for the establishment of the best interest of children who were migrants or asylum seekers? What measures were in place to eradicate private adoption and ensure full application of the Hague Convention? The Country Rapporteur welcomed the first National Programme for Equality and Non-Discrimination and noted that discrimination and inequality were ingrained in the education system, mainly in rural and remote areas. Mexico was one of the countries which made great investments in education, but the increase in the budget did not follow the increase in the school population.
SARA DE JESÚS OVIEDO FIERRO, Committee Vice-Chairperson and Country Rapporteur, raised the issue of unaccompanied migrants and asked about the protocols for their protection, the protection of half a million children who were children of agricultural labourers, and about the agreements with the United States ensuring the protection of Mexican migrants, particularly girls. Sexual exploitation of children and trafficking of children for purposes of sexual exploitation was on the rise and was a great issue of concern. The Country Rapporteur asked for data and figures on those crimes and how they were being dealt with, about measures to tackle trafficking for labour exploitation, and the steps to address sexual exploitation of children by priests?
Another Committee Expert raised concern about the situation of children with disabilities who suffered from a high rate of abandonment, social stigma and lacked access to justice, and asked about measures to ensure inclusive education. Who was covered by popular health insurance and how was access to health ensured in rural areas?
Questions by the Committee Experts
There was a worrying increase in cases of disappearance of children and young people and a Committee Expert wished to know what was being done to address this issue. Experts raised concern about the situation of street children, some 100,000 of them, and asked the delegation to explain the strategy in place, the results achieved, and the approach employed to prevent children from returning to the street.
Around 2.5 million children under the age of 16 were working, often in the worst forms of child labour, such as domestic labour and farm labour. The delegation was asked about the status of ratification of International Labour Organization Convention 138, plans to adopt federal and state laws prohibiting hazardous work for children, including domestic and farm work, and the intention to strengthen institutions in charge of addressing the problem of child labour and implementing the laws.
The law on juvenile justice in Mexico was not fully in line with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly in terms of the definition and length of pre-trial detention for juveniles. The Committee took note of the General Law which brought Mexico in line with international standards, but the law failed to define the sale of children, child pornography and forced labour, and impunity for such acts prevailed. Cases of paedophilia by clerics were not denounced, children were not protected, and perpetrators were not brought to justice. Was there a single register which identified the number of children victims of abuse in the country? Organized violence was an issue of concern and the delegation was asked about plans to revise the strategy to fight organized crimes and what measures would be taken to protect children from such violence, and also to protect children from enforced disappearances?
Replies by the Delegation
With regard to measures to address the situation of children without parental care, the delegation said that one of the most important points of the social development policy was to fight poverty, which was the reason behind the loss of rights. Nearly seven million children and adolescents were covered by the PROSPERA programme, under which most received grants to attend primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as for continuing education of young adults. The guidelines on the living conditions of children whose mothers were in prison were being revised and would include the best interest of the child which would oblige the penitentiary authorities to provide conditions conducive to healthy child development.
Concerning the state of play in the setting up of the national register of social welfare centres, the delegation said that the initial plan was in place and the methodology for putting it in place had been developed as well. The Mexican Refugee Committee had a definition of refugee and asylum seekers which was provided to arrivals so that they would know which level of international protection they could enjoy. The best interest of the child was an important principle of the immigration policy and regulation. Since 2013, only 10 subsidiary protections had been granted, and 26 in 2014, which meant that the authorities did not push the files through without listening carefully to the children and their fears. A mechanism was in place to ensure family reunification and repatriated children were only returned to the competent authorities of their countries of origin, while the Office of the Prosecutor had a special unit to combat crimes against migrants. Migrant children were interviewed by specialized migration officers, who sought to establish the best interest of the child, and were placed in safe shelters in one of the 46 centres across the country.
It was true that there was discrimination in education, particularly in the rural areas and in the education of indigenous children. Mexico was developing a truly inclusive education which would not only address the education of children with disabilities, but of all children. School feeding programmes were in place, as well as activities to support literacy in indigenous languages. The Decent School Programme had carried out interventions in one of each three indigenous schools, improving infrastructure and equipment, while 70 per cent of teachers in indigenous schools had professional teaching degrees. Activities were being carried out in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund to ensure that the voices of indigenous children were heard and that they knew their rights. The national strategy to prevent teenage pregnancy was a nationwide programme supporting reproductive health education, peer-to-peer education, provision of contraceptives and support to stay in school.
Adoptions in Mexico were both national and international and the State was putting in place measures to speed up the adoption procedures. It was important to say that 90 per cent of the adoptions were carried out by state institutions and only 10 per cent were carried out by private agencies. There was no specific law or plan to criminalize private adoption. In all adoption proceedings, efforts were made to ensure that the best interest of the child was the guiding principle, and that the children of appropriate age could voice their opinion about the adoption.
The budget allocated for the implementation of the General Law would see the setting up of Offices for the Defence of Children that would be in charge of protecting children and adolescents. The priority was being given to protecting unaccompanied migrant children; to that end a new protocol had been developed two months ago to identify children in need of special protection, including victims of sale, exploitation and trafficking, while the General Law also laid down guarantees for unaccompanied migrant children. One of the problems was the lack of capacity of the network of shelters to accommodate unaccompanied migrant children; 60,000 children had arrived to Mexico in the last year alone.
The Government was currently developing a human rights based and gender sensitive protocol to deal with children victims of abuse, violence and exploitation, which would guarantee that their rights were restored and provide the child with a greater quality of life. Further, investigations would be pursued to provide compensation and that holistic and comprehensive repair for human rights violations was provided.
The National Development Plan contained measures for high-quality education of persons with disabilities and human rights based initiatives were being rolled out in public institutions. Teachers’ training was vital and various courses were available to raise awareness of teachers on diversity, inclusive education and human rights. There was a plan to ensure accessibility of public buildings in line with Mexican standards. An inclusive education policy was in place, which ensured that special needs teachers for children with disabilities received necessary support and technical assistance.
Mexico had a popular health insurance system which covered families which were not included in the National Social Security Institute or the Mexican army system. The policy to prevent crime and violence was a priority and was aimed at protecting the lives of children and adolescents. One of its main approaches was addressing addiction, not criminalizing it, but providing treatment and support. Seven million young people had benefitted from workshops and actions carried out in this regard. Within the framework of this programme, the National Addiction Council had organized fora and workshops and opened up spaces, which Mexico believed were appropriate approaches to reducing violence. In terms of combatting childhood obesity and diabetes, a special tax was being levied on sugary drinks; sale of sugary drinks in schools was prohibited, and advertisement of unhealthy food during children viewing times on television was banned. Mexico had also developed a standard for high quality food and promoted a number of actions to encourage physical movement among children.
Enforced disappearances, including of children and adolescents, were on the rise since 2007, and at that time Mexico was poorly equipped legally and institutionally to deal with the phenomenon. In 2013, a number of legislative measures had been undertaken to deal with the crime of enforced disappearances which was considered a serious human rights violation, and as such triggered application of a whole set of laws including in the states which did not have appropriate legislation in place. In 2012, the National Register of Disappeared Persons had been created, in which 29,000 victims had been identified; of those 67 per cent of the disappeared had been localized.
A strategy was in place to address the issue of street children and was a part of the comprehensive child protection system. A national network of institutions helping street children was in place and this was the first time that the social welfare system was working in such a manner. Evaluation of the system was not yet available. The national information system, planned under the General Law, would provide the policy makers with the necessary data and figures.
The Senate had approved the ratification of International Labour Organization Convention 138, which the President had promulgated in May 2015; the official publication of the law would appear in the official gazette soon. The law on hazardous work contained a definition of activities harmful to the health and development of children and furthermore, Mexico was working on harmonizing its legislation with the view of eradicating child labour. A protocol for labour inspection of child labour had been created and made it easier to detect child labour and create standardised steps in addressing the labour violations in this regard.
The Senate was working on adopting a uniform law on juvenile justice to ensure that the Federation and the states would establish a comprehensive juvenile justice system which would be applicable to children aged 12 to 18 years of age. Justice of adolescents would be adversarial, would involve hearings and would propose measures aiming to rehabilitate and reintegrate the offenders, and the full development of their personalities and capabilities. Alternative dispute settlements for adolescents would also be promoted in the criminal law at federal and state level. This document had been approved by the Constitutional Committee and was now in the process of consultation with local Parliaments.
The law criminalized trafficking in persons and the handing over illegally of a minor to someone else outside of the territory of the country; if committed by three or more persons, it was considered organized crime. Sale of children and trafficking in persons were handled by the Special Prosecutor for Crimes of Trafficking in Persons. Sale of organs was not criminalized. The Commission of Justice had approved an initiative in April 2014 to add an article to the Criminal Code defining sanctions for paedophilia and covering up this crime; this initiative would be discussed in plenary in September 2015 before being sent to the Senate.
Concluding Remarks
SARA DE JESÚS OVIEDO FIERRO, Committee Vice-Chairperson and Country Rapporteur, expressed appreciation for the efforts of Mexico in this dialogue, in which some questions still remained unanswered, including internal migration, bull-fighting and child development. Violence, poverty and the poor distribution of wealth underpinned the problems and the Committee hoped that Mexico would address those root causes and avoid the vicious cycle and the repetition of the problem. The actions for children under the age of five were crucial to ensure progress: food and health, love and affection, and those would make them grow up into confident adults.
JUAN MANUEL GOMEZ ROBLEDO, Secretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, thanked the Committee Experts for their comments and constructive criticism which would allow Mexico to move forward and ensure the real implementation of the Convention and its Optional Protocols. The General Law was a watershed in this area and all efforts from now on would be focused on its practical implementation and the changing of the reality on the ground.
RENATE WINTER, Committee Vice-Chairperson, welcomed all the plans and initiatives of Mexico and expressed hope that they would make the future of the children in this country brighter.
For use of the information media; not an official record
CRC15/021E